Vehicle control device

ABSTRACT

A vehicle control device includes an external situation recognition unit configured to recognize an external situation around a vehicle to recognize a traffic participant, an action schedule acquisition unit configured to acquire a first action schedule of the vehicle, an action schedule notification unit configured to notify a terminal possessed by the traffic participant of the first action schedule of the vehicle to request an approval of the first action schedule, a receiver configured to receive the approval of the first action schedule from the terminal; and an execution controller configured to execute an operation of the vehicle in accordance with the first action schedule when the receiver receives the approval of the first action schedule from the terminal and to suppress the operation of the vehicle in accordance with the first action schedule when the receiver does not receive the approval of the first action schedule from the terminal.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-206926 filed onOct. 26, 2017 including the specification, drawings and abstract isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device.

2. Description of Related Art

In the related art, a pedestrian crossing assistance system disclosed inJapanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-149296 (JP2013-149296 A) is known. In the pedestrian crossing assistance systemdisclosed in JP 2013-149296 A, pedestrian crossing signal display meanscapable of notifying a pedestrian of an action schedule of a vehicle(hereinafter, simply referred to as “action schedule”) is mounted on aroof of the vehicle, and when the pedestrian can safely cross a roadwhile the vehicle is stopped, the pedestrian crossing signal displaymeans lights up in green to notify the pedestrian that the crossing ispossible. When the vehicle is stopped but the vehicle starts to travelwithin a certain time, the green light flickers to notify the pedestrianthat the vehicle starts to travel within the certain time. When thevehicle travels, that is, when the crossing of the road is dangerous forthe pedestrian, the pedestrian crossing signal display means lights upin red to notify the pedestrian that the crossing of the road isdangerous.

SUMMARY

In JP 2013-149296 A, a vehicle side does not grasp whether thepedestrian understands the action schedule of the vehicle after thepedestrian is notified of the action schedule of the vehicle by a signaldisplay of the red lighting. Consequently, when the pedestrian does notunderstand even with the signal display of the red lighting, the vehicleside may not appropriately respond.

An aspect of the disclosure relates to a vehicle control deviceincluding an external situation recognition unit, an action scheduleacquisition unit, an action schedule notification unit, a receiver, andan execution controller. The external situation recognition unit isconfigured to recognize an external situation around a vehicle torecognize a traffic participant. The action schedule acquisition unit isconfigured to acquire a first action schedule of the vehicle. The actionschedule notification unit is configured to notify a communicationterminal (hereinafter, referred to as “terminal”) possessed by thetraffic participant of the first action schedule of the vehicle torequest an approval of the first action schedule. The receiver isconfigured to receive the approval of the first action schedule from theterminal. The execution controller is configured to execute an operationof the vehicle in accordance with the first action schedule when thereceiver receives the approval of the first action schedule from theterminal and to suppress the operation of the vehicle in accordance withthe first action schedule when the receiver does not receive theapproval of the first action schedule from the terminal.

In the vehicle control device, when the traffic participant around thevehicle is recognized, the terminal possessed by the traffic participant(traffic participant terminal) is notified of the first action scheduleof the vehicle, and the approval of the traffic participant is requestedfor the notified first action schedule. The traffic participant is aperson who possesses the traffic participant terminal and can performinput to the traffic participant terminal. When the approval is receivedfrom the traffic participant terminal, an operation of the vehicle inaccordance with the notified first action schedule is executed. When theapproval is not received from the traffic participant terminal, theoperation of the vehicle in accordance with the notified first actionschedule is suppressed. Therefore, after confirmation is made that thetraffic participant understands and approves the first action scheduleof the vehicle, the vehicle can execute the first action schedule. Whenthe confirmation cannot be made that the traffic participant approvesthe first action schedule of the vehicle, the vehicle can suppress theoperation of the vehicle in accordance with the notified first actionschedule. As a result, the vehicle can take a safer action.

The vehicle control device according to the aspect may further include avehicle position acquisition unit configured to acquire a position ofthe vehicle and a traveling plan generation unit configured to generatea first traveling plan of the vehicle based on the position of thevehicle acquired by the vehicle position acquisition unit and theexternal situation of the vehicle recognized by the external situationrecognition unit. The action schedule acquisition unit may acquireinformation relating to vehicle behavior as the first action schedule ofthe vehicle from the first traveling plan of the vehicle generated bythe traveling plan generation unit. According to the aspect of thedisclosure, the vehicle can generate the first traveling plan for theautonomous driving from the acquired position and the externalsituation, and acquire the first action schedule to notify the trafficparticipant of the traveling plan.

The vehicle control device according to the aspect may further include avehicle position acquisition unit configured to acquire a position ofthe vehicle and a terminal position recognition unit configured toacquire position information of the terminal possessed by the trafficparticipant. The external situation recognition unit may acquire aposition of the traffic participant based on the position of the vehicleacquired by the vehicle position acquisition unit and a relativeposition between the vehicle and the traffic participant acquired by anexternal sensor, and may compare the position of the traffic participantwith the position information of the terminal possessed by the trafficparticipant acquired by the terminal position recognition unit tospecify the position of the traffic participant who possesses theterminal. According to the aspect of the disclosure, the externalsituation recognition unit can recognize the information of the terminalof the traffic participant in association with the position informationof the traffic participant.

In the vehicle control device according to the aspect, when the receiverdoes not receive the approval from the terminal, the traveling plangeneration unit may generate a second traveling plan different from thefirst traveling plan, and the execution controller may control thevehicle in accordance with the second traveling plan. According to theaspect of the disclosure, when the approval of the traffic participantis not received, the vehicle can travel based on a safer traveling plan.

In the vehicle control device according to the aspect, the secondtraveling plan may include at least one of (i) decelerating from avehicle speed of the vehicle in the first traveling plan, (ii)decelerating before reaching the traffic participant, (iii) stoppingtemporarily in front of the traffic participant, (iv) stopping in frontof the traffic participant, or (v) stopping autonomous driving control.

According to the aspect of the disclosure, after an understanding of thetraffic participant with respect to the action schedule of the vehicleis confirmed, the vehicle can take a safe action.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle on whicha vehicle control device according to a first embodiment is mounted anda configuration of a traffic participant terminal;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by thevehicle control device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a traffic participantrecognition process of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle on whicha vehicle control device according to a second embodiment is mounted;and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by avehicle control device according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to drawings.In the following description, the same reference numeral will beassigned to the same or corresponding element, and a redundantdescription will be omitted.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing configurations of a vehicle on which avehicle control device according to a first embodiment is mounted and aterminal possessed by a traffic participant. As shown in FIG. 1, avehicle control device 1 is mounted on a vehicle M which is anautonomous driving vehicle including an autonomous driving system 100.Autonomous driving is vehicle control in which the vehicle Mautomatically travels toward a destination set in advance without adriving operation by an occupant (including driver or the like) of thevehicle M. The autonomous driving system 100 will be described.

The autonomous driving system 100 is a system that causes the vehicle Mto travel by the autonomous driving. The autonomous driving system 100includes an external sensor 2, a global positioning system (GPS)receiver 3, an internal sensor 4, a map database 5, a navigation system6, an actuator 7, a human machine interface (HMI) 8, and an electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 10.

The external sensor 2 is a detection apparatus that detects asurrounding environment (external situation) which is an environmentsurrounding the vehicle M. The external sensor 2 includes at least oneof a camera or a radar sensor. The camera is an imaging apparatus thatimages the surrounding environment. The camera is provided, for example,on a back side of a windshield of the vehicle M. The camera transmitsimaging information to an ECU 10. The camera may be a monocular cameraor a stereo camera. The stereo camera has two imaging units disposed soas to reproduce a binocular parallax. Information in the depth directionis also included in imaging information of the stereo camera. The radarsensor is a detection apparatus that detects an object around thevehicle M using a radio wave (for example, millimeter wave) or light.The radar sensor includes, for example, a millimeter wave radar or LaserImaging Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). The radar sensor transmits aradio wave or light around the vehicle M and receives a radio wave orlight reflected from the object to detect the object. The radar sensortransmits object information to the ECU 10. The number and position ofeach of mounted cameras and radar sensors are not particularly limited.

The GPS receiver 3 receives signals from three or more GPS satellitesand acquires position information indicating a position of the vehicleM. The position information includes, for example, a latitude and alongitude. The GPS receiver 3 transmits the measured positioninformation of the vehicle M to the ECU 10. Another means capable ofspecifying a latitude and a longitude where the vehicle M is present maybe used instead of the GPS receiver 3.

The internal sensor 4 is a detection apparatus that detects a state ofthe vehicle M (motion state of vehicle M). The internal sensor 4includes at least a vehicle speed sensor. The vehicle speed sensor is ameasurement apparatus that measures a speed of the vehicle M. As thevehicle speed sensor, a tire-wheel assembly speed sensor that isprovided on a tire-wheel assembly of the vehicle M, on a drive shaftrotating integrally with the tire-wheel assembly, or the like andmeasures a rotation speed of the tire-wheel assembly is used. Thevehicle speed sensor transmits the measured vehicle speed information ofthe vehicle M to the ECU 10. The internal sensor 4 may include anacceleration sensor or a yaw rate sensor. The acceleration sensor is ameasurement apparatus that measures acceleration of the vehicle M. Theacceleration sensor includes a front-rear acceleration sensor thatmeasures acceleration in the front-rear direction of the vehicle M and alateral acceleration sensor that measures lateral acceleration of thevehicle M. The acceleration sensor transmits the pieces of accelerationinformation to the ECU 10. The yaw rate sensor is a measurementapparatus that measures a yaw rate (rotation angular velocity) aroundthe vertical axis of the center of gravity of the vehicle M. Forexample, a gyro sensor may be used as the yaw rate sensor. The yaw ratesensor transmits the measured yaw rate information of the vehicle M tothe ECU 10.

The map database 5 is a database that stores map information. The mapdatabase 5 is formed in a hard disk drive (HDD) mounted on the vehicleM. The map information includes position information of a road, laneinformation, road type information, road shape information, positioninformation of an intersection or a junction, position information of abuilding, and the like. The road type information distinguishes a typeof the road such as an automobile road or a general road. The road shapeinformation is, for example, type information such as a curved portionor a straight portion, a road curvature, and the like. The map database5 may be stored in a computer of a facility such as an informationprocessing center capable of communicating with the vehicle M.

A communication unit C is a device that performs communication betweenthe vehicle M and the outside of the vehicle. The communication unit Ccommunicates with a communicable terminal around the vehicle M. Thecommunication unit C does not need to directly communicate with thecommunicable terminal around the vehicle M and may communicate via abase station or the like. A communication method is not particularlylimited.

The navigation system 6 guides the occupant of the vehicle M to thedestination set in advance. The navigation system 6 recognizes atraveling road and a traveling lane where the vehicle M travels based onthe position of the vehicle M measured by the GPS receiver 3 and the mapinformation of the map database 5. The navigation system 6 calculates atarget route from the position of the vehicle M to the destination. Thenavigation system 6 uses a display panel and a speaker to guide thetarget route to the occupant. The navigation system 6 transmits theposition information of the vehicle M, the information on the travelinglane of vehicle M, and the information on the target route of thevehicle M to the ECU 10.

The actuator 7 is a device that executes traveling control of thevehicle M. The actuator 7 includes at least an engine actuator, a brakeactuator, and a steering actuator. The engine actuator changes a supplyamount of air to an engine (for example, changes throttle openingdegree) according to a control signal from the ECU 10 to control drivingforce of the vehicle M. When the vehicle M is a hybrid vehicle or anelectric vehicle, the engine actuator controls driving force of a motoras a power source. The brake actuator controls a brake system accordingto the control signal from the ECU 10 to control braking force providedto tire-wheel assemblies of the vehicle M. For example, a hydraulicbrake system may be used as the brake system. When the vehicle Mincludes a regenerative brake system, the brake actuator may controlboth the hydraulic brake system and the regenerative brake system. Thesteering actuator controls driving of an assist motor that controlssteering torque of an electric power steering system according to thecontrol signal from the ECU 10. According to the above description, thesteering actuator controls the steering torque of the vehicle M.

The HMI 8 is an interface for outputting and inputting information toand from the occupant of the vehicle M. The HMI 8 includes an apparatussuch as a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shiftlever, and various switches on which the occupant performs an inputoperation related to vehicle behavior. The HMI 8 may include a displaypanel for displaying image information to the occupant, a speaker foroutputting a sound, and an operation button or a touch panel forperforming the input operation by the occupant. The HMI 8 transmitsinformation input by the occupant to the ECU 10. The HMI 8 displays theimage information according to the control signal from the ECU 10 on adisplay.

An auxiliary apparatus U is an apparatus that can be recognized from theoutside of the vehicle M. The auxiliary apparatus U collectively refersto an apparatus not included in the actuator 7. The auxiliary apparatusU includes, for example, a direction indicator, a headlight, a wiper, aspeaker, and a display.

The ECU 10 is an electronic control unit having a central processingunit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), acontroller area network (CAN) communication circuit, and the like. TheECU 10 is connected to, for example, a network that communicates usingthe CAN communication circuit and is connected so as to be capable ofcommunicating with a component of the vehicle M. The ECU 10 operates theCAN communication circuit, for example, based on a signal output fromthe CPU to input and output data, stores the input data in the ROM,loads a program stored in the ROM into the RAM, and executes the programloaded in the RAM to realize a function of the component of the ECU 10.The ECU 10 may be configured to have a plurality of electronic controlunits. The vehicle control device 1 includes the ECU 10, which includesa vehicle position acquisition unit 16, a traveling plan generation unit17, and a traveling controller 18 as a functional configuration.

The vehicle position acquisition unit 16 recognizes a position of thevehicle M on a map (hereinafter, referred to as “vehicle position”)based on the position information of the vehicle M received by the GPSreceiver 3 and the map information of the map database 5. The vehicleposition acquisition unit 16 may acquire the vehicle position used bythe navigation system 6 from the navigation system 6 to recognize thevehicle position. When the vehicle position of the vehicle M can bemeasured by a sensor provided in the outside such as road, the vehicleposition acquisition unit 16 may acquire the vehicle position from thesensor by the communication.

The traveling plan generation unit 17 generates a traveling plan of thevehicle M based on at least any of detection results of the externalsensor 2 and the internal sensor 4, the position information of thevehicle M recognized by the vehicle position acquisition unit 16, themap information of the map database 5, various pieces of informationtransmitted from the navigation system 6, or an external situationrecognized by an external situation recognition unit 11 based on thedetection result of the external sensor 2. Obstacle information isinformation relating to at least any of a position, a size, range, or amovement direction and speed of one or a plurality of obstacles(including guardrail, street tree, building, person, animal, bicycle,another vehicle, or the like) around the vehicle M.

When the occupant performs a start operation of the autonomous driving,the traveling plan generation unit 17 starts the generation of thetraveling plan. The traveling plan includes a long-term traveling planfrom a current position of the vehicle M until the vehicle M reaches thedestination set in advance and a short-term traveling plan correspondingto an actual road environment or surrounding environment. The long-termtraveling plan depends on the map information. The short-term travelingplan is a plan for the vehicle M to travel in a detection range (forexample, range within 150 m in front of the vehicle M) of the externalsensor 2.

The traveling plan generation unit 17 generates the long-term travelingplan of the vehicle M based on the target route set by the navigationsystem 6 and the map information of the map database 5. The long-termtraveling plan has a control target value of the vehicle M according toa position on the target route of the vehicle M. The position on thetarget route is a position in an extending direction of the target routeon the map. The positions on the target route mean setting longitudinalpositions set for each predetermined space (for example, 1 m) in theextending direction of the target route. The control target value is avalue which is a control target of the vehicle M in the long-termtraveling plan. The control target value is set in association with eachsetting longitudinal position on the target route. The traveling plangeneration unit 17 sets the setting longitudinal positions having thepredetermined space on the target route and sets the control targetvalue for each setting longitudinal position to generate the long-termtraveling plan. The setting longitudinal position and a target lateralposition may be set together as one position coordinate. The settinglongitudinal position and the target lateral position mean informationon a longitudinal position and information on a lateral position whichare set as targets in the long-term traveling plan.

The traveling plan generation unit 17 generates the short-term travelingplan based on the detection results of the external sensor 2 and theinternal sensor 4, the obstacle information, the position of the vehicleM, and the long-term traveling plan. The position of the vehicle M is aposition of the vehicle M on the map recognized based on the positioninformation of the vehicle M received by the GPS receiver 3 and the mapinformation of the map database 5. The position of the vehicle M may berecognized by acquiring the vehicle position used by the navigationsystem 6 from the navigation system 6. Alternatively, when the vehicleposition of the vehicle M can be measured by a sensor provided on aroadside, the position of the vehicle M may be recognized by acquiringthe vehicle position from the sensor by the communication.

The short-term traveling plan has a short-term control target valueaccording to the setting longitudinal position on the target routesimilarly to the traveling plan. The short-term control target value isa value that is the control target of the vehicle M in the short-termtraveling plan. The short-term control target value is set inassociation with each setting longitudinal position on the target route.The short-term control target value includes the short-term targetlateral position of the vehicle M and a short-term target vehicle speedof the vehicle M. The short-term target lateral position is the lateralposition of the vehicle M that is the control target in the short-termtraveling plan. The short-term target vehicle speed is a vehicle speedof the vehicle M that is the control target in the short-term travelingplan.

The traveling controller 18 transmits the control signal to the actuator7 based on the traveling plan generated by the traveling plan generationunit 17. According to the above description, the vehicle M iscontrolled, and the vehicle M automatically travels according to thetraveling plan.

A configuration of a traffic participant terminal T will be described. Atraffic participant who possesses the traffic participant terminal T isa person who can participate in traffic, receives a notification fromthe traffic participant terminal T while participating the traffic, andcan perform input to the traffic participant terminal T. The trafficparticipant is, for example, a pedestrian or a bicycle driver.

The traffic participant terminal T is a terminal possessed by thetraffic participant. Various traffic participant terminals T may beemployed as long as the communication with the outside, the notificationto the traffic participant, and the input from the traffic participantare possible. The traffic participant terminal T is, for example, asmartphone or a wearable device. When a notification of an actionschedule of the vehicle M is received by the communication from thevehicle control device 1 described below and the traffic participantapproves the action schedule of the vehicle M, the traffic participantterminal T transmits information relating to an approval to the vehiclecontrol device 1 described below. Each traffic participant terminal Thas a unique ID (identification information). The unique ID of eachtraffic participant terminal T is transmitted to the outside by thecommunication or the like.

The traffic participant terminal T includes a terminal sidecommunication unit 101, a terminal side approval unit 102, a terminalposition recognition unit 103, and a terminal side internal sensor 104.

The terminal side communication unit 101 can communicate with thecommunication unit C of the vehicle M. The communication with thecommunication unit C of the vehicle M may be direct communication orcommunication via the base station or the like.

The terminal side approval unit 102 notifies the traffic participant whopossesses the traffic participant terminal T of the action schedule ofthe vehicle M received by the communication from an action schedulenotification unit of the vehicle control device 1 described below toacquire the information relating to the approval based on the input bythe traffic participant. The information relating to the approvalacquired by the terminal side approval unit 102 is transmitted from theterminal side communication unit 101 to the vehicle M.

The terminal position recognition unit 103 receives signals from threeor more GPS satellites and acquires position information indicating aposition of the traffic participant terminal T. The position informationincludes, for example, a latitude and a longitude. The terminal positionrecognition unit 103 may transmit the measured position information ofthe traffic participant terminal T from the terminal side communicationunit 101 to the vehicle M. Another means capable of specifying alatitude and a longitude where the traffic participant terminal T ispresent may be used instead of the terminal position recognition unit103.

The terminal side internal sensor 104 is a detection apparatus thatdetects a state of the traffic participant terminal T (motion state ofthe traffic participant terminal T). The terminal side internal sensor104 includes at least the acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensoris a measurement apparatus that measures the acceleration of the vehicleM. For example, the acceleration sensor includes at least any of thefront-rear acceleration sensor that measures the acceleration in thefront-rear direction, the lateral acceleration sensor that measures thelateral acceleration, or an upper-lower acceleration sensor thatmeasures acceleration in the upper-lower direction. The terminal sideinternal sensor 104 may include an angular velocity sensor. The angularvelocity sensor is a measurement apparatus that measures the rotationangular velocity around the center of gravity of the traffic participantterminal T. For example, the gyro sensor may be used as the angularvelocity sensor. The angular velocity sensor may measure an angularvelocity around at least any axis of the angular velocities around threeaxes (yaw, pitch, and roll) passing through the center of gravity of thetraffic participant terminal T.

A configuration of the vehicle control device 1 will be described.

The vehicle control device 1 is a device that notifies the trafficparticipant terminal T possessed by the traffic participant around thevehicle M of the action schedule of the vehicle M and determines whetherto execute the action schedule of the vehicle M based on whether theapproval from the terminal possessed by the traffic participant isreceived.

The action schedule can be acquired from, for example, the travelingplan generated by the traveling plan generation unit 17. In the case,the action schedule includes at least one of pieces of informationrelating to the vehicle behavior such as an advancing direction(straight advance, right turn or left turn, or the like) scheduled bythe vehicle M, acceleration and deceleration situations, travelingspeed, temporary stop, passing through intersection, driving scene(overtaking, emergency road shoulder evacuation, or the like). Theaction schedule may use control target values of various drivingassistance systems (not shown) such as pre-crash safety system (PCS),adaptive cruise control (ACC) system, lane keep assist (LKA) system inaddition to the traveling plan generated by the traveling plangeneration unit 17. The action schedule of the vehicle M may beestimated from operation input by the occupant of the vehicle M. Theaction schedule is not particularly limited, and various actionschedules may be employed.

The vehicle control device 1 includes the ECU 10, which includes theexternal situation recognition unit 11, an action schedule acquisitionunit 12, an action schedule notification unit 13, a receiver 14, and anexecution controller 15, as shown in FIG 1.

The external situation recognition unit 11 recognizes the externalsituation of the vehicle M based on the detection result (for example,imaging information of the camera, obstacle information of the radar,and obstacle information of the LIDAR) of the external sensor 2. Theexternal situation includes, for example, a position of a white line ina traveling lane or a position of the lane center and a road width withrespect to the vehicle M, the road shape (for example, a curvature ofthe traveling lane, a slope change in a road surface effective forestimating the line of sight of the external sensor 2, undulation, orthe like), and a situation of the obstacle around the vehicle M (forexample, information that distinguishes between a fixed obstacle and amoving obstacle, a position of the obstacle with respect to the vehicleM, the movement direction of the obstacle with respect to the vehicle M,a relative speed of the obstacle with respect to the vehicle M, or thelike). Collation between the detection result of the external sensor 2and the map information is preferable to complement the accuracy of theposition and direction of the vehicle M acquired by the GPS receiver 3and the like.

The external situation recognition unit 11 recognizes the trafficparticipant around the vehicle M from among the recognized externalsituations. Here, the external situation recognition unit 11 associatesthe unique ID for the traffic participant terminal T described belowacquired by the communication or the like with the position of thetraffic participant among the recognized external situations to specifythe traffic participant.

The external situation recognition unit 11 may collate pieces ofposition information using the position information of the vehicle Macquired by the GPS receiver 3, relative position information with thetraffic participant recognized by the external sensor 2, and theposition information of the traffic participant terminal T which isacquired by the terminal position recognition unit 103 of the trafficparticipant terminal T and is transmitted from the terminal sidecommunication unit 101 to specify the traffic participant.

The external situation recognition unit 11 may use traffic participantspecification information described below after candidates for a trafficparticipant to be specified are narrowed down using the positioninformation of the vehicle M acquired by the GPS receiver 3 and theposition information of the traffic participant terminal T received fromthe terminal side communication unit 101 of the traffic participantterminal T to specify the traffic participant.

The traffic participant specification information is used for specifyingthe traffic participant after the candidates for the traffic participantto be specified are narrowed down using the pieces of positioninformation of the vehicle M and the traffic participant terminal T inthe external situation recognition unit 11. For example, time-seriesinformation of the acceleration of the traffic participant terminal Tmay be used as the traffic participant specification information.Hereinafter, a method of specifying the traffic participant when thetime-series information of the acceleration of the traffic participantterminal T is used will be described.

In a traffic participant terminal T side, the time-series information ofthe acceleration of the traffic participant terminal T can be acquiredby measuring the acceleration using a terminal side internal sensor andrecording the measured acceleration.

In a vehicle M side, time-series information of the acceleration of thetraffic participant can be acquired as information corresponding to thetime-series information of the acceleration of the traffic participantterminal T. In the vehicle M, time-series information of a relativespeed between the traffic participant and the vehicle M can be acquiredafter the traffic participant is recognized using the external sensor 2.The time-series information of the acceleration of the trafficparticipant can be calculated from the time-series information of theacquired relative speed and the state of the vehicle M acquired by theinternal sensor 4.

The external situation recognition unit 11 collates the time-seriesinformation of the acceleration of the traffic participant terminal Tacquired on the traffic participant terminal T side with the time-seriesinformation of the acceleration of the traffic participant calculated onthe vehicle M side to specify a candidate having the highest collationdegree.

The traffic participant specification information may use not only thetime-series information of the acceleration of the traffic participantbut also time-series information of the speed.

An optical signal or the like may be used as the traffic participantspecification information. When the optical signal is used, the trafficparticipant terminal T emits time-series pattern of the optical signalunique to the terminal and transmits optical signal specificationinformation that associates the optical signal emitted from the terminalwith the terminal ID by the communication. In the vehicle M side, aposition of the optical signal and the time-series pattern of theoptical signal are recognized using the external sensor 2, the opticalsignal specification information that associates the optical signal withthe terminal ID is received by the communication, and the trafficparticipant terminal T is specified using the optical signal recognizedusing the external sensor and the optical signal specificationinformation received by the communication.

As described above, various pieces of information that can betransmitted and received between the traffic participant terminal T andthe vehicle M may be used as the traffic participant specificationinformation.

The action schedule acquisition unit 12 acquires the action schedule ofthe vehicle M. In the first embodiment, the action schedule acquisitionunit 12 acquires the traveling plan of the vehicle M from the travelingplan generation unit 17 and acquires the action schedule of the vehicleM from the traveling plan.

The action schedule notification unit 13 outputs the notification of theaction schedule of the vehicle M acquired by the action scheduleacquisition unit 12 with respect to the traffic participant recognizedby the external situation recognition unit 11. The notification of theaction schedule of the vehicle M output from the action schedulenotification unit 13 is transmitted from the communication unit C to theterminal side communication unit 101, and the traffic participant isnotified of the action schedule through the traffic participant terminalT. The traffic participant around the vehicle M may be notified of theaction schedule output from the action schedule notification unit 13through the auxiliary apparatus U. Means for notifying the actionschedule output from the action schedule notification unit 13 is notparticularly limited as long as the traffic participant around thevehicle M can recognize the notification, and the action schedule may benotified using various means.

The receiver 14 receives the information relating to the approval of thetraffic participant with respect to the action schedule of the vehicle Mnotified by the action schedule notification unit 13. The actionschedule notification unit 13 receives the information relating to theapproval acquired by the terminal side approval unit 102 of the trafficparticipant terminal T through the communication between the terminalside communication unit 101 and the communication unit C. Means forreceiving the information is not limited to the communication betweenthe terminal side communication unit 101 and the communication unit C aslong as the information relating to the approval acquired by theterminal side approval unit 102 of the traffic participant terminal Tcan be received.

The execution controller 15 determines whether to execute the actionschedule of the vehicle M or suppress the execution based on theinformation relating to the approval of the traffic participant receivedby the receiver 14. When the approval of the traffic participant isreceived by the receiver 14, the execution controller 15 determines toexecute the action schedule of the vehicle M. When the approval of thetraffic participant is not received by the receiver 14, the executioncontroller 15 determines to suppress the execution of the actionschedule of the vehicle M.

In the first embodiment, when the execution controller 15 determines toexecute the action schedule of the vehicle M, the traveling plangenerated by the traveling plan generation unit 17 is not overwritten byanother traveling plan, and the traveling controller 18 transmits thecontrol signal to the actuator 7 based on the traveling plan. Accordingto the above description, the vehicle M is controlled, and the vehicle Mautomatically travels according to the traveling plan.

On the other hand, when the execution controller 15 determines tosuppress the execution of the action schedule of the vehicle M, theautomatic traveling of the vehicle M according to the traveling plan issuppressed. The suppression of the execution of the action schedulemeans, for example, that a new traveling plan in which the execution ofthe action schedule included in the traveling plan so far is suppressedis generated in the traveling plan generation unit 17, and the travelingcontroller 18 transmits the control signal to the actuator based on thenew traveling plan to cause the vehicle M to automatically travelaccording to the new traveling plan. In the case, the new traveling planmay include suppressing the vehicle speed of the vehicle M anddecelerating, stopping temporarily, and stopping before the vehicle Mreaches around the traffic participant. When the execution controller 15determines to suppress the execution of the action schedule of thevehicle M, autonomous driving control may be stopped after the occupantof the vehicle M is informed. Alternatively, the traveling plan outputfrom the traveling plan generation unit 17 to the traveling controller18 may be overwritten by the control signal from another drivingassistance system such as pre-crash safety system (PCS).

An example of a process executed by the vehicle control device 1 will bedescribed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the example of the process executed by thevehicle control device 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of anaction schedule acquisition process of FIG. 2. In the vehicle controldevice 1, for example, at the same time that the autonomous driving isstarted by the autonomous driving system 100, the following process isstarted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the traffic participant is recognized by theexternal situation recognition unit 11 (step S1). The action schedule ofthe vehicle M is acquired by the action schedule acquisition unit 12(step S2). In step S2, for example, the action schedule is acquired fromthe traveling plan generated by the traveling plan generation unit 17.

The action schedule notification unit 13 notifies the trafficparticipant of the action schedule of the vehicle M, and the approval ofthe traffic participant is requested (step S3). After step S3, theinformation relating to the approval of the traffic participant isreceived by the receiver 14, and determination is made whether theexecution controller 15 receives the approval (step S4). In a case ofYes in step S4, the execution controller 15 causes the travelingcontroller 18 to control the vehicle M based on the traveling plan toexecute the action schedule (step S5). In a case of No in step S4, theexecution controller 15 suppresses the automatic traveling of thevehicle M according to the traveling plan (that is, execution of theaction schedule) (step S6).

In the traffic participant recognition process in step S1, as shown inFIG. 3, the vehicle control device 1 acquires the position of thevehicle M (step S101). In step S101, for example, the position of thevehicle M is acquired based on the position information acquired by theGPS receiver 3.

After step S101, the vehicle control device 1 acquires the position ofthe traffic participant (step S102). In step S102, for example, therelative position between the traffic participant around the vehicle Mand the vehicle M is acquired by the external sensor 2, and the positionof the traffic participant is acquired using the position of the vehicleM acquired in step S101 and the relative position between the trafficparticipant and the vehicle M.

After step S102, the vehicle control device 1 acquires the positioninformation of the traffic participant terminal T (step S103). In stepS103, for example, the position information acquired by the terminalposition recognition unit is acquired by the communication.

After step S103, the vehicle control device 1 collates the position ofthe traffic participant acquired in step S102 with the positioninformation of the traffic participant terminal T acquired in step S103to specify the position of the traffic participant who possesses thetraffic participant terminal T (step S104).

As described above, in the vehicle control device 1 according to thefirst embodiment, the action schedule of the vehicle M is acquired fromthe traveling plan generated by the traveling plan generation unit 17,the traffic participant terminal T is notified of the acquired actionschedule, and the approval is requested. The autonomous driving system100 according to the first embodiment executes the action schedule whenthe vehicle control device 1 receives the approval of the trafficparticipant and suppresses the execution of the action schedule when thevehicle control device 1 does not receive the approval of the trafficparticipant. According to the above description, when the trafficparticipant around the vehicle M does not show an understanding of theaction schedule of the vehicle M, the vehicle M can take a safer action.

As described above, the first embodiment is described, but thedisclosure is not limited to the embodiment and is implemented invarious forms. Some configurations mounted on the vehicle M in the firstembodiment are not necessarily mounted on the vehicle M. For example,the external sensor 2 may be configured to be included as an externalsurrounding facility not mounted on the vehicle M, detect thesurrounding environment (external situation) which is the environmentsurrounding the vehicle M from the outside of the vehicle M, andtransmit the detected information to the vehicle M side by thecommunication. The ECU 10 may be configured to transmit the signal tothe apparatus such as the HMI 8, the auxiliary apparatus U, and theactuator 7 mounted on the vehicle M using the communication from theoutside of the vehicle M.

The vehicle position acquisition unit 16, the traveling plan generationunit 17, and the traveling controller 18 which are functionalconfigurations of the ECU 10 may be included as functionalconfigurations of the vehicle control device 1.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment will be described. In the following description,differences from the first embodiment will be described and a redundantdescription will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle M2 onwhich a vehicle control device according to the second embodiment ismounted. As shown in FIG. 4, the second embodiment is different from thefirst embodiment in that the vehicle M2 does not include the autonomousdriving system 100 and an ECU 20 includes an operation input analysisunit 21 and an occupant informing unit 22 instead of including thetraveling plan generation unit 17 and the traveling controller 18 ascompared with the ECU 10.

The operation input analysis unit 21 acquires the operation input fromthe occupant which is input to the HMI 8 and analyzes the operationinput. For example, the operation input analysis unit 21 stores pastoperation input patterns for each type of vehicle actions and compares acurrent operation input pattern with the past operation input patternsto estimate an action type to which the current operation is applied.

The action schedule acquisition unit 12 acquires an estimation result ofan action schedule of the vehicle M2 from a result analyzed by theoperation input analysis unit 21.

The descriptions of the operations of the external situation recognitionunit 11, the action schedule notification unit 13, the receiver 14, andthe execution controller 15 are the same as the descriptions in thefirst embodiment and will be omitted.

The occupant informing unit 22 generates informing contents to theoccupant according to the determination result of the executioncontroller 15 and controls the HMI 8 based on the generated informingcontents. When the execution controller 15 determines to suppress theexecution of the action schedule, the occupant informing unit 22 informsthe occupant to prompt the suppression of the execution of the actionschedule. The informing the occupant to prompt the suppression of theexecution of the action schedule includes, for example, promptingdeceleration or stop by the display or the sound of the HMI 8.

As described above, in the vehicle M2 according to the secondembodiment, the action schedule of the vehicle M2 is estimated from theoperation input of the occupant, the approval of the traffic participantis requested with respect to the estimated action schedule, and theoccupant of the vehicle M2 is informed to prompt the suppression of theexecution of the action schedule when the approval is not received.According to the above description, when the traffic participant doesnot show an understanding of the action schedule of the vehicle M2, theoccupant can be prompted to take a safer driving action.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment will be described. In the following description,differences from the first embodiment will be described and a redundantdescription will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by avehicle control device 1 according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the traffic participant is recognized by theexternal situation recognition unit 11 (step S11). A time to collision(TTC) between the traffic participant recognized in step S11 and thevehicle M is calculated (step S12). The TTC between the trafficparticipant and the vehicle M can be obtained by dividing a relativedistance between the traffic participant and the vehicle M which can beacquired by the external sensor 2 by a relative speed between thetraffic participant and the vehicle M which can be acquired by theexternal sensor 2.

After step S12, the action schedule of the vehicle M is acquired by theaction schedule acquisition unit 12 (step S13). In step S13, forexample, the action schedule is acquired from the traveling plangenerated by the traveling plan generation unit 17. After step S13, thetraffic participant is notified of the action schedule of the vehicle Mby the action schedule notification unit, and the approval of thetraffic participant is requested (step S14).

After step S14, information relating to the approval of the trafficparticipant who has the minimum TTC calculated in step S12 is receivedby the receiver 14, and determination is made whether the executioncontroller 15 receives the approval from the traffic participant who hasthe minimum TTC (step S15). In a case of Yes in step S15, the travelingcontroller 18 controls the vehicle M based on the traveling plan toexecute the action schedule (step S16). In a case of No in step S15, theautomatic traveling of the vehicle M according to the traveling plan(that is, execution of the action schedule) is suppressed (step S17).

As described above, in the vehicle control device 1 according to thethird embodiment, when the traffic participant who has the minimum TTCwith respect to the vehicle M among the traffic participants around thevehicle M does not show an understanding of the action schedule of thevehicle M, the vehicle M can take a safer action.

As described above, the embodiments are described, but the disclosure isnot limited to the embodiments and is implemented in various forms. Forexample, in the embodiments, the execution controller 15 determineswhether to execute the action schedule. However, the determination isnot necessarily performed to be made by the execution controller 15 andmay be made by another configuration such as the traveling controller 18in the vehicle control device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle control device comprising: anelectronic control unit (ECU) including at least one processor,programmed to: recognize an external situation around a vehicle thatincludes a traffic participant based on detection information receivedfrom an external sensor; acquire a first action schedule of the vehiclebased on at least the recognized external situation; after the firstaction schedule is acquired, notify a terminal, possessed by the trafficparticipant, of the first action schedule of the vehicle including arequest for approval of the first action schedule; determine whether areceiver has received the approval of the first action schedule from thetraffic participant after the request for approval has been notified tothe terminal, wherein the determination of approval is based on an inputby the traffic participant at the terminal possessed by the trafficparticipant that occurs in response to the request for the approval ofthe first action schedule; and execute an operation of the vehicle inaccordance with the first action schedule when the receiver receives theapproval of the first action schedule from the terminal and suppress theoperation of the vehicle in accordance with the first action schedulewhen the receiver does not receive the approval of the first actionschedule from the terminal.
 2. The vehicle control device according toclaim 1, wherein the ECU is further programmed to: acquire a position ofthe vehicle; generate a first traveling plan of the vehicle based on theposition of the vehicle and the external situation of the vehicle; andacquire information relating to vehicle behavior as the first actionschedule of the vehicle from the first traveling plan of the vehicle. 3.The vehicle control device according to claim 2, wherein: when the ECUdoes not receive the approval from the terminal, the ECU generates asecond traveling plan different from the first traveling plan; and theECU controls the vehicle in accordance with the second traveling plan.4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, wherein the secondtraveling plan includes at least one of (i) decelerating from a vehiclespeed of the vehicle in the first traveling plan, (ii) deceleratingbefore reaching the traffic participant, (iii) stopping temporarily infront of the traffic participant, (iv) stopping in front of the trafficparticipant, or (v) stopping autonomous driving control.
 5. The vehiclecontrol device according to claim 1, wherein the ECU is furtherprogrammed to: acquire a position of the vehicle; and acquire positioninformation of the terminal possessed by the traffic participant,acquire a position of the traffic participant based on the position ofthe vehicle and a relative position between the vehicle and the trafficparticipant acquired by the external sensor, and compare the position ofthe traffic participant with the position information of the terminalpossessed by the traffic participant to specify the position of thetraffic participant who possesses the terminal.
 6. The vehicle controldevice according to claim 1, wherein the ECU is further programmed to:calculate a time to collision (TTC) between the traffic participantrecognized by the external situation recognition unit and the vehicle,the time to collision being obtained by dividing a relative distancebetween the traffic participant and the vehicle by a relative speedbetween the traffic participant and the vehicle; wherein when aplurality of traffic participants are recognized, receive informationrelating to the approval of the traffic participant who has a minimumTTC from amongst the plurality of traffic participants; control thevehicle based on the traveling plan to execute the first action schedulewhen the approval from the traffic participant who has the minimum TTCis received, and suppress the automatic traveling of the vehicleaccording to the traveling plan when the approval from the trafficparticipant who has the minimum TTC is not received.
 7. A method ofcontrolling a vehicle, comprising: recognizing an external situationaround a vehicle to recognize a traffic participant based on detectioninformation received from an external sensor of the vehicle; acquiring afirst action schedule of the vehicle based on at least the recognizedexternal situation; notifying a terminal possessed by the trafficparticipant of the first action schedule of the vehicle to request anapproval from the traffic participant of the first action schedule;determining whether a receiver has received the approval of the firstaction schedule based on an input by the traffic participant from theterminal possessed by the traffic participant, wherein the input by thetraffic participant occurs in response to the request of the approval ofthe first action schedule; and executing an operation of the vehicle inaccordance with the first action schedule when the receiver receives theapproval of the first action schedule from the terminal, and suppressingthe operation of the vehicle in accordance with the first actionschedule when the receiver does not receive the approval of the firstaction schedule from the terminal.
 8. The method of controlling thevehicle according to claim 7, further comprising: acquiring a positionof the vehicle; generating a first traveling plan of the vehicle basedon the position of the vehicle and the external situation of thevehicle; and acquiring information relating to vehicle behavior as thefirst action schedule of the vehicle from the first traveling plan ofthe vehicle.
 9. The method of controlling the vehicle according to claim8, wherein: when the approval is not received from the terminal,generating a second traveling plan different from the first travelingplan; and controlling the vehicle in accordance with the secondtraveling plan.
 10. The method of controlling the vehicle according toclaim 9, wherein the second traveling plan includes at least one of (i)decelerating from a vehicle speed of the vehicle in the first travelingplan, (ii) decelerating before reaching the traffic participant, (iii)stopping temporarily in front of the traffic participant, (iv) stoppingin front of the traffic participant, or (v) stopping autonomous drivingcontrol.
 11. The method of controlling the vehicle according to claim 7,further comprising: acquiring a position of the vehicle; and acquiringposition information of the terminal possessed by the trafficparticipant, acquiring a position of the traffic participant based onthe position of the vehicle and a relative position between the vehicleand the traffic participant acquired by the external sensor, andcomparing the position of the traffic participant with the positioninformation of the terminal possessed by the traffic participant tospecify the position of the traffic participant who possesses theterminal.